


Surprises

by darkling59



Series: Annals of the Incomplete [9]
Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-03-17 23:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3547280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkling59/pseuds/darkling59
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where andorians made first contact with humans and vulcans are the bitter enemies of the human-andorian alliance, Trip makes the acquaintance of a familiar vulcan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprises

Cursing and fumbling, Trip slid down the rock face, more or less staying upright though he didn’t envy whatever tailor was going to get stuck with fixing the seat of his uniform back on Enterprise. It took mercifully few minutes to get to the bottom and, for once, there didn’t seem to be anything hostile despite the Andorians’ warnings.

_Well how ‘bout that? The one time we don’t listen to them, things go right!_

“Commander! Are you alright?” he had to fumble to find his communicator when it chimed somewhere near his right foot. It must have fallen out of his pocket on the ride down.

“I’m good captain. Just getting’ my bearings.”

“Well don’t take too long. I really don’t want to have to explain what you’re doing down there to the Andorians or the Vulcans.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just want to find out what’s so classified that…hello…”

“Trip?”

“Might’ve found something. I’ll call back in ten minutes.”

“Don’t be…”

“Yeah, yeah.” He disconnected without waiting for Archer’s parting words, intent on what he’d discovered.

Half hidden by the stalactites and stalagmites on the far end of the cavern, an opening was cut in the rock wall. It was identical to many other shadowy places in the cave but for one telling feature; it was perfectly symmetrical.

Drawing his phase pistol, Trip cautiously ventured into the opening - and froze. The tunnel behind it was long and narrow but at the end it opened out into a medium sized cavern about four times the size of a shuttlepod which was filled with ancient, dilapidated equipment. Scattered on and around the wreckage were bodies, most of them just as dusty as the machines, though some looked fresh beneath the grime.

Half hidden behind one of the dusty consoles, a young woman lay absolutely still, curled loosely with her head on her knees. Unlike the other corpses, she appeared almost peaceful in her silence and Trip felt his heart ache in sadness. All of the lives lost were tragic but this one…she was so beautiful and so young… to see her covered in dust, dead due to a simple mechanical failure…

He reached out almost reverently to touch her cheek in sympathy, intending to stroke away the dust. But when his hand touched her skin, he snatched it back in shock.

She was warm!

And warmth could mean only one thing…life.

Without a second thought, the human lifted the single survivor into his arms and turned back to the entrance. There was nothing useful here; whatever had happened, the vulcans managed to clean out anything ubnroken before it went to hell. The familiar stab of aggression brought on by the thought was tempered by his concern for the woman as he maneuvered through the narrow entryway and up a stone stairway that had not been visible from the outside.

It wasn’t until he was back in the shuttle pod that he got a glimpse of her ears in the light and realized why exactly she had been down there.

Of all the women he could have rescued, he’d picked a Vulcan. A Vulcan! And with a ring ship waiting not ten kilometers away, intent on blowing Enterprise to smithereens if they didn’t comply with their every demand.

Jon was gonna love this one.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm...not sure this makes sense. Back in 07, I had a whole headcannon about this 'verse where the Andorians met the humans first and formed an alliance with them, plunging them into war against the vulcans and resulting in a universe not unlike the mirror verse.


End file.
